With the popularity of electric bikes, or e-bikes, increasing in Hawaiʻi, the Honolulu City Council is taking up legislation in an effort to better regulate the motorized bicycles.
There are over 5,000 e-bikes registered in Honolulu.
"Electric bicycles are definitely a new emerging popular trend," said Hawaiʻi Bicycling League Director of Advocacy Eduardo Hernandez.
"They fill a really important transportation niche for a lot of individuals and families because they're an affordable method of transportation, and with a little bit of assist, help people to get a little bit further, without any carbon emissions," Hernandez said.
But in Hawaiʻi, there aren’t clear standards for different types of e-bikes. Some have motors that only assist a person pedaling, while others offer fully motorized rides that can reach up to 28 mph.
E-bike manufacturer eBliss Global just started selling e-bikes on Oʻahu.
"When automobiles started, there was no roads, right, and there was no regulations. There were no stoplights. So all of those things followed automotive demand by consumers, the same thing is happening with the bikes," said eBliss Global CEO Bill Klehm.
"So you're now getting bikes that are starting to become very prevalent and the local municipalities have to think about and come up with guidance on how this should all work and what safety is," he added.
Klehm explained that, unlike Europe, the U.S. has no universal standard for e-bikes.
That’s why Honolulu City Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam introduced a measure that would create classifications of e-bikes and safety requirements.
The bill breaks down e-bikes into three classes.
Class 1 has a motor that only kicks in when the rider is actively pedaling and can reach 20 mph. Class 2 has a motor that can be used without pedaling and can reach 20 mph. Class 3 has a motor that assists with pedaling and can reach up to 28 mph.
"28 mph is very fast, especially for a teenager — a teenager who can't even get a learner's permit to drive a car can all of a sudden be out on an e-bike going 28 mph down the middle of the street," Dos Santos-Tam said. "That's unsafe, and that's contributing to many of the accidents that we see out on our roads."
Just this week, a 14-year-old was hospitalized in Waialua after getting hit by a truck while on an e-bike.
Dos Santos-Tam's bill would also require helmets to be worn when riding Class 3 e-bikes and not allow those under 15 years old to operate one.
"With this regulation, it gives these conversations that family members have a little bit more teeth," he said. "It's the law that you have to wear a helmet. It's a law that you can't be riding down the middle of King Street on your e-bike and hopefully, that also helps create some expectations and norms around, especially our young people riding these devices."
Dos Santos-Tam expects that another measure will be introduced to address other micro-mobility devices such as Onewheels or electric scooters.
The city says while no Biki bike share bicycles are electric, they are continuing to consider that option as part of the program’s future.
